Okay, I’m going to lighten things up a bit today. I know my last post was hard to read, and it was certainly hard to write.
So today, let’s have some fun with the next round of TRs I did as part of the Communication Course: Upper Indoctrination TRs, or Upper Indocs, as we commonly referred to them.
Oh — just as an aside, after we finished the first round of TRs, Jim invited me to his home for dinner and to meet his wife and child. They were very nice, and we were having light and breezy conversation, so I couldn’t figure out why I felt super creeped-out the whole time. I mean, this was a nice guy, right? He was so calm in his demeanor. His family was so sweet. But then I’d remember what I’d just been through. Ewwwww.
OK, back to Upper Indocs. The purpose of these is supposed to be to learn how to get your intention across to another person and get them to do what you intend. It’s basically learning how to control others.
The way this is set up is pretty amusing, when I look back at it. Here they are in sequence:
TR5: Hand Mimicry (Mime Time!)
For this one, Jim said we needed to sit across from each other, but close enough so that his knees were on the outside of mine. Again, Ewwwwww.
Then he raised his hands and said I had to raise mine. I placed my hands against his and I was supposed to follow his hand movements and “contribute” to their motion. Sort of like an acting exercise, I suppose. Except that it’s not, because you’re learning to follow another person exactly and do what they say.
Anyway, I did this, and his hands were a bit clammy, which grossed me out. But I had been a good little student earlier, so was able to maintain my composure. That being said, I made sure to do everything perfectly so we got through it fast. Whew.
Now came the fun part.
TR6: Body Control
This TR is also called “8-C”, a term that’s used all the time in Scientology to mean “control”. It goes like this: “You need to 8-C Mary to pay for her Clear package!” Let me explain how this works:
In Part One, Jim and I stood next to each other at one end of the room, against a wall. He had me put one hand on the middle of his back and the other lightly on his arm. Then I was supposed to walk him over to the other side of the room by making his body start, move forward, and then stop right before the wall.
The commands were as follows (man, I hate that I remember them so well):
“Look at that wall.” (person looks) “Thank you.”
“Walk over to that wall.” (person walks over) “Thank you.”
“Touch that wall.” (person touches the wall) “Thank you.”
“Turn around.” (person turns around) “Thank you.”
Jim gave a bit of resistance, but not too much on this gradient. He then did the same to me so I could “understand” how it felt to be controlled, I suppose. I got the point pretty quickly, so we moved on to Part Two.
For this part, you can’t have any physical contact, and just have to make the other person walk from one end of the room to the other through your voice commands alone. Oh, and if he didn’t feel like I really wanted him to cross the room, it would be: “FLUNK! I didn’t get your intention. Start!”
Oh brother. And so it went, hour after hour, until I finally passed. Thrilling, I know, to spend the afternoon making someone walk back and forth across a room. Then Jim did it to me, and you’d better believe I moved across the room with no problem. I wanted to be DONE. Boy, was I learning how to not resist someone else’s commands, like a good little robot.
TR7: High School Indoc (Throw Me Around!)
Do I remember why this was called “High School” Indoc? Nope. And I don’t really care at this point. It’s just another weird “Hubbardism”.
On this step, you start to learn about “Tone 40”. What this is, basically, is saying something so intensely that the other person has no choice but to do what you say. It’s a term used in the Sea Org A LOT, as it’s supposed to be key to getting things done.
As a manager for some years now, I can tell you that Tone 40 DOES NOT WORK when you’re trying to get someone to do something (well, the only place it works is within Scientology). What actually works is respect, kindness, and clearly explaining what needs to be done so you get cooperation. It took me years to unlearn what I was taught in Scientology, believe me.
Here’s how things went: Jim and I stood next to each other and I had to get him to the other side of the room and touch the other wall with my Tone 40 Intention, but ALSO by physically moving him as needed. The idea was that I had to control him and not let him do what he wanted, in order to get him to comply with me. Hmmm….
Jim was able to fight me on this step, so it was interesting to say the least. At that time I was about 135 pounds (oh, those were the days), and I had to basically manhandle this person who was well over 200 pounds and about 6 feet tall. He pulled, pushed, ran away, did everything he could to NOT move to the other wall.
It was exhausting, but I’ll admit I did enjoy throwing him around on this step, after all the things I’d been through. I guess there was still some of me left in there—I hadn’t been completely taken over yet!
Once I passed this drill, I felt a lot more powerful. Sweaty, but powerful. I guess that’s what they want you to feel, so you think that the way to get things done is to control with force as needed. That way, when YOU are the one controlled, it seems logical.
TR8: Tone 40 on Objects (Talk to an Ashtray!)
This is the nuttiest one of all. I had to sit in a chair, facing another chair, upon which a big glass ashtray was placed. Hubbard was specific about this point: it had to be a large, heavy, glass ashtray. Whatever.
On the first step, I had to literally SCREAM these words at the ashtray, while moving it myself:
“STAND UP!” (pick up the ashtray) “THANK YOU!”
“SIT DOWN IN THAT CHAIR!” (put down the ashtray) “THANK YOU!”
By this time, I hope you can see that EVERYONE who gets into Scientology and wants to advance, has yelled at an ashtray. Everyone. Tom Cruise. John Travolta. The whole lot of them. Pretty funny when you think about it.
Anyway, after yelling so much that I was hoarse, the next step was to do this all silently, i.e. “intend” the ashtray to move up and down. Of course, I was using my hands to do this, but at this point I felt like it could have moved on its own if it wanted to, because it seemed so light and effortless. Yeah, I know, I was in deep at this point. The delusion was real.
TR9: Tone 40 with Bullbait (OH NO!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!)
Yep! You didn’t think I’d be able to finish these drills without going through another round of bullbait, did you? That’s right, my friend, the very last drill took everything I’d learned and made me have to do it with Jim saying anything he could to throw me off my game.
The commands were the same, and I had to get him to the other side of the room and touch the wall, but this time he could not only try to stop me physically but also verbally. I don’t think I need to tell you how awkward that was, since I painted the picture pretty well in my last blog post. However, THIS TIME I got to take out my frustration on him physically, so it felt pretty good.
Unfortunately, that meant that I learned how to deal with frustration and anger by not showing any emotion, but instead by using physical force if necessary. Yep, I had become a good little foot soldier by this time.
So that’s my crazy TRs story. What did I learn? Three things:
- Control is good. Physical control is even better.
- If you want someone to do something, you need to be as forceful as necessary.
- Leaving is not an option.
I hope this helps you understand just how much goes into Scientology mind control. And this was only the FIRST step, in what would be YEARS of conditioning.
The next step? That’s for another post, my dear. Get ready for the Purification Rundown!
To be continued…
My Scientology Story 